Catch me if I Fall
by Arashi no Ko
Summary: Deidara was always aware that she was overconfident and she never tried to change that. She didn't think her gender made her any less competent than the others from Akatsuki. But why can't the blonde shake off the feeling that she should have died in her fight with Sasuke? And why is it that Itachi always seems to be there to catch her when she falls…Fem!Deidara x Itachi, T for now
1. The first time he caught her

**A/N: Yes…I know…I shouldn't…so many unfinished stories…But I just couldn't! Dx The plot bunnies were gnawing at my brain and I haven't had such persistent ones in a long while =_=" … So anyways this is my first naruto story, hope the characters aren't too OOC but I'm pretty glad how it turned out so far :DDD **

**Summary: Deidara was always aware that she was overconfident and she never tried to change that. She didn't think her gender made her any less competent than the other Akatsuki members. Maybe it even gave her an advantage. After all Konan was also a woman and that didn't stop her from being the leader's right hand. But why can't the blonde shake off the feeling that she should have died in her fight with Sasuke? And why is it that Itachi always seems to be there to catch her when she falls…**

**Pairing: Itachi x Fem!Deidara**

**Warnings: Genderbent Fem!Deidara, Language, Adult (but not too graphic for now) themes and in later chapters Spoilers up to ep. 138 Shippuden/ manga ch. 393! No spilers in this chapter though. :) **

**Cover drawn by me ^_^**

**Last but not least: I do not own Naruto. *sulks in a dark corner***

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**Catch Me if I Fall**

_Chapter 1: The first time he caught her_

"Deidara are you sure it's alright?..." Sasori asked cautiously in an almost annoyed tone. (If Deidara didn't know him so well she wouldn't have noticed the concern in the back of his voice).

"It's fiiiine, Danna!~" Deidara chirped and rolled her eyes as she skipped ahead, humming a little tune to indicate her good mood. "The uniform was plain _boring_ before! But with my artistic modifications it's super cute now!~ How can you wear that ugly old thing hmm?" It was Sasori's turn to roll his eyes though nobody saw what little variation of facial expressions he was capable of under that wide brimmed hat and high collar. Not to mention he was as usually hiding inside his puppet armor.

"Well don't come back to me crying later because Pein thought otherwise." Sasori huffed, deciding it was pointless to argue with the stubborn girl. Despite calling him 'danna' she rarely ever allowed him any sense of superiority.

Deidara's only reply to Sasori's words was stopping and turning around so she could stick her tongue out to him. The sudden movement caused her cloak to be lifted by the wind, revealing almost dangerous parts to Sasori, who was grateful for the straps of cloth hanging from his hat and obscuring his vision. Before Deidara's so called 'artistic modifications' to the standard Akatsuki uniform, the cloak wouldn't have been so affected by such a weak gust of air. But now…it was questionable whether what the girl was wearing could be called a cloak. Very questionable…

The once long cloak had been lightened by at least half a kilo, the bottom edge that before fell down to her ankles currently barely reached above Deidara's knees and the sleeves were shortened to breast level. The cut had been changed a bit so that it was narrower at the waist. A red obi and a simple white obijime completed the new look.

Deidara didn't understand why her Danna complained so much, calling her clothes revealing and inappropriate. After all her thighs were completely covered (though she'd been a bit tempted to make the skirt shorter but she'd decided against it) and she'd also kept the high collar the way it was so nothing indecent in particular was exposed. Even if Pein decided to be bitchy about it, the overall design with the clouds and all was the same so he had no right to complain.

Deidara didn't bother explaining those things to Sasori again and instead just continued walking with the same little bounce to her step.

"Come on Sasori-danna, we'll be late if you continue slacking off like that hmm." The blonde called without looking back to see whether her master was catching up to her, which he begrudgingly did after another ignored sigh.

When the two arrived at Akatsuki's hideout, everyone was already there and waiting for them. This time it was a special meeting since all members were there in person and not just using clone jutsu. The moment Deidara walked in, she saw with her peripheral vision a few eyebrows cocking in question and smirked. She could feel all eyes on her but the ones she locked hers with were a shade of light violet with repetitive black rings around small irises. It was amazing how Pein was able to look angry without moving a single muscle of his expressionless face.

Even though the man's Rinnegan was staring a hole through her, Deidara only felt bolder under his purple gaze. Demonstratively ignoring their leader, she skipped to her usual spot between Konan and Sasori. She liked the spot a lot since Konan was the only other woman in the gang, Sasori was…well, he was her Danna and most importantly she didn't stand next to one of the more freakish members like Zetsu for example (seriously that split-personality wasn't the only creepy thing about that…'guy'). Technically Pein was supposed to be next to Deidara but he was true to his position of leader and always stood in front of the others, on one of the taller boulders in the cave-like hideout. Pein's voice echoed off the stone walls and throughout the enclosed space as he spoke.

"I've summoned you here today to discuss the organization's moves in the near future. However, it comes to my attention that there's an issue that needs solving before we move on to the point." Pein's eyes never left a certain blonde as he spoke and the other members didn't try to hide their stares as well. 'He's so melodramatic.' Deidara thought as she braced herself for the upcoming lecture.

"Deidara…" 'Here it goes…' "Might I ask what exactly you're wearing?"

'They're called clothes you dumbass, stylish clothes.' But of course Pein was no dumbass and Deidara knew better than to sign her own death sentence. Despite her leader's overwhelming presence and 'don't-fuck-with-me' tone, Deidara couldn't stop her mischievous side from awakening in the situation. This called for a more 'delicate' approach…

"They're called clothes, Pein-sama." Deidara replied, obviously satisfied with her own answer. She could hear Hidan snicker from somewhere on her left and that only fueled her confidence. Pein however did not seem amused by the joke and although it didn't show on his face, Deidara released it as soon as she felt her feet leave the ground. With slight bewilderment she watched the floor getting further and further away from the tips of her toes. She could feel the tickling sensation of Pein's chakra on her skin as he slowly maneuvered her so they were at eye level. When not in Battle, Pein's control over his Banshō Ten'in and Shinra Tensei was so advanced that some even mistook them for a gravity manipulation jutsu. In reality he simply controlled attractive and repulsive forces towards and away from his body. While Shinra Tensei was usually used to shatter the opponent's bones to dust, it was doing a great job at balancing out Banshō Ten'in and keeping Deidara floating in mid air without crushing her to death.

"Now Deidara," The voce snatched the blonde's attention away from her intent staring at the ground and back to Pein who was currently standing with his right hand outstretched in front of him to steady the jutsu.

"I'm aware of your 'artistic' beliefs and need to stand out" Pein went on "but I'm afraid your attire doesn't answer our organization's requirements." He spoke calmly as if talking to a child, which Deidara was in some aspects. But that didn't stop her from being annoyed by that.

"I don't see what's the problem here. I mean it's a black coat and it still has the clouds on it so what more do I need? Or do you want me to write 'AKATSUKI' on my hitai-ate and walk around with that, hmm?" She crossed her arms across her chest knowing that she was winning this argument.

"I don't plan on arguing with you about that but as it is now your uniform is too revealing to be acceptable." Deidara rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. Surely their leader wasn't implying that the others were too innocent to look at a bit of leg? And if Pein was actually implying what she thought he was, she was pretty sure she could beat the ass of any idiot to try and molest _her _of all kunoichi. And she was pretty sure the others knew that as well. Throughout all that thinking, an idea that made her smirk, began forming in her head. And as usually she thought 'Why the hell not?'.

Pein's jitsu gave her a certain amount of freedom and it was enough for her to flip herself in a position where she was basically hanging upside-down. The action caused not only her long hair but also her skirt to hang down, the latter earning her some very interesting reactions from the other akatsuki members. Almost all of them averted their eyes and groaned. Hidan wolf-whistled while Sasori just facepalmed and Konnan looked kind of amused. Even the stoic Pein sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in silent frustration. That meant a lot coming from such an expressionally-challenged person like him. Deidara found all reactions equally amusing and smiled wider.

"Oh come on, I know you like it, you perverts! Especially you, Kisame."

"Shut it brat!" The said shinobi snorted, still holding his arm in front of his eyes in an attempt to block out Deidara's display.

"Hah, if you had the guts to look you'd actually realize that there's nothing to see hmm."

And Deidara was right, for underneath the skirt were a pair of black shorts, which normally reached just above the edge of her skirt. And even if they were quite tight-fitting they still hid anything inappropriate from sight. Seeing that, Kisame became even more embarrassed for falling for Deidara's trick and began yelling threats at her. Kakuzu was finally getting fed up with the racket but only made it worse when he started shouting at the others to shut up and Hidan was laughing his ass off.

Despite all the commotion and yelling going on below, Deidara could still feel the gaze of two Sharingan wielding eyes on her back. She could recognize the feeling of those eyes on her anytime, especially if they were staring so intently, which they were certainly doing right now. Deidara didn't need to turn around to know that _he_ was watching her, yet had no intention to meet his scarlet orbs with her own blue ones.

What she didn't know, though, was that Pein was already tired of her antics and, having decided not to argue with the blonde anymore, released his jutsu without a warning.

In less than a millisecond Deidara felt the air around her getting lighter, the pressure of chakra on her skin gone and suddenly she was reaching the ground, _fast_. Normally a fall like that wouldn't be a problem for a ninja, be it a chuunin or even a genin. However Deidara was taken by surprise. Of course the fall wouldn't kill her or anything, but she'd definitely get painfully injured by it. The blonde only had time to realize that colliding with the floor was inevitable and close her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the impact. Funny how she didn't know it would never come.

The ground felt weird to Deidara. She expected it to be gruff, cold and littered with sharp rocks…Instead it was soft, warm and in the shape of…hands?...wait…what?

Deidara's eyes shot open only to be met with the sight of black fabric, instantly recognized as an akatsuki cloak. The 'ground', as she'd previously assumed, were indeed a pair of gentle but strong arms, one supporting her back and the other tucked under her knees. However the fact that someone was holding her bridal style wasn't as shocking as to _who_ was doing it.

After a moment of bewilderment, she lifted her gaze and stared at the face of (oh my god) Uchiha Itachi himself. And he was staring back at her! Itachi's red eyes carried that same calm and composed expression as if there was nothing unusual about the situation. His scent, that she always tried to catch fractions of whenever he passed by, was all around her and the closeness of it made her dizzier than when she was falling. Just the proximity of that man was already overwhelming her senses. And what made things even worse was that she was clinging to him like a lost puppy! Deidara was too shocked to do anything but stare and she was pretty sure that she was redder than her Danna's hair by now. Who could blame her though? Itachi was undoubtedly too handsome for his own good (And for the good of others for that matter).

The lack of a scarlet gaze on her and Itachi's neutral deep voice finally snapped the blonde back to reality. Thankfully Itachi's words were directed not at her but at their leader.

"Pein-sama, I do believe that you had a good reason, but please be more careful from now on. Deidara-san might have been seriously injured."

Pein didn't seem to be annoyed by the scolding and only nodded in reply. Itachi knew that was the closest to an apology he'd get from the man and turned his attention back to the girl in his arms.

"Are you alright?" Was the simple question, spoken in a deep baritone, which for some reason Deidara found difficult to answer.

"Um yeah..." It was a miracle that she didn't stutter even once but her voice was still a few octaves higher than she would've liked it to be.

"You sure?" Itachi persisted and inspected Deidara from head to toe.

She squirmed under his gaze. Why was he even asking her when he'd caught her himself? She looked around and was glad to see that no one was paying much attention to them except for Sasori, whom she gave a helpless look.

"No, I'm fine really." Deidara persuaded managing to keep her voice under control.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, she was slowly put back on her feet and watched as Itachi leisurely retreated to his spot. The blonde did the same, albeit a bit more hurriedly and to her surprise noticed that the meeting had already started. Despite Pein having said that it was very important, Deidara still needed time to recover and promptly spaced out.

Her mind seemed to be circling around the recent events and her heartbeat refused to return to normal. She clutched the fabric above the rapidly beating organ and forced her head to stop spinning from the blood overflow. She still felt as though Itachi's scent lingered around her and on every part of her body he'd come in contact with. Deidara was annoyed by her reaction to the simple touch. She was a kunoichi for god's sake! A part of the world's most feared organization no less. Something as simple as a touch shouldn't affect her so much.

Convincing herself she was being silly, Deidara straightened up and let Pein's words reach her, although they didn't make much sense by now.

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**A/N: Ok time to make some things clear: **

**1.) In different translations Dedara says either 'yeah' or 'hmm'. I'm using the latter in this fic but please tell me in the reviews which one you prefer. **

**2.) I'll be spelling Pein like this since to me calling him that instead of Pain makes him seem more…person-like. **

**3.) The Obi and Obijime I used in Deidara's outfit description are a part of the Japanese kimono outfit. The Obi is a wide sash used for tying over the kimono, nowadays it's not used to close the kimono, rather as an accessory. The Obijime is a long string that is tied over the Obi and is also used as a decorartion. For more info just google it. :D **

**4.) As for every character having their own spot, I did not make that up. In the anime and manga, the order is decided by the member's rings. You might have noticed that when standing on the Gedō Mazō everyone had their own finger which corresponded with the fingers they wore their Akatsuki rings on. The full order is like this: (from left to right) Orochimaru, Kisame, Kakuzu, Hidan, Sasori/Tobi, Pein, Deidara, Konan, Itachi, Zetsu. **

**And one last thing: Commas hate me! (I hate them too) So they may be absent in some places…=_= **

**So I hope you liked the first chapter ^_^ Please review to tell me what you think and if you want this to continue ( I promise I won't disappoint you *winks*)**


	2. Bittersweet

**A/N: I'm sooooo sorry for posting this soooo late but I hope the length of the chapter compensates just a bit. **

**Anyways, I want to thank you for all the positive feedback ^_^ Your reviews, favs and follows are wonderful motivation!~ **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! (srry for being so lame…just tired and not in the mood…)**

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**Catch Me if I Fall**

_Chapter __2: Bittersweet_

After 'listening' to Pein for what felt like hours but were in fact a few minutes, Deidara decided that the meeting wasn't worth much of her attention. They were simply revising their plans and she didn't understand why Pein insisted it was so important. Of course, there were some changes here and there but they affected the other teams so Deidara thought she'd leave the listening to Sasori. He was a better listener than her anyways.

The girl smiled inwardly as she thought of her Danna and how she left most of the work to him. Without realizing it she'd come to rely on him a lot. To her surprise the old man didn't nag much at all, and when he did, he sounded like he was scolding a child_. _'Just like a worried mom.'Deidara thought fondly.

She could see that despite his complaints and occasional insults, Sasori's attitude towards her was different than the cold shoulder he gave everyone else. It made her feel special and she loved it – just as much as she loved her Danna like an older brother she never had. She knew he may not care for her that much but Deidara was satisfied with what she had…

Sasori watched as Deidara's eyes slowly became more and more distant and sighed inaudibly. The girl had gone back to daydreaming again. Her short attention span never ceased to amaze him. At least she could be quite serious when fighting. Sasori threw one last glance at the girl. Someone else might have been fooled by her posture, which gave the impression she was listening carefully, but Sasori knew her too well. He knew she relied on him to pay attention to the meeting. This time, however, even Sasori couldn't help giving in to his thoughts. Normally he'd be ready to scold Deidara for her earlier actions, but there was something that was bothering him more. He shifted his eyes to the right…

_Itachi._

The man had gone too far. If anything, Deidara's reaction was proof enough.

Sasori snorted inwardly at how overprotective he'd become when it came to the girl. A few months ago he would have dismissed the thought of being able to hold any affection for anyone, much less the self-confident brat he was forced to acknowledge as a partner. For him she had just been a pest that would probably die before him and be replaced anyway. It was as simple as that.

The brat had had quite the confidence when they came to recruit her and she'd even put up a fight. Too bad her ego didn't match up to her skills at that time. But it was that same confidence combined with her relaxed attitude that had made Sasori take notice of the girl and she was indeed a strange one. His impression of her being a loudmouthed disrespectful weakling had slowly changed as he spent more time with the blonde. It turned out she acted with such passion only when it came to art and actually possessed that cool demeanor, typical for most of the akatsuki members.

As for respect, Deidara had shown him plenty. She'd quickly acknowledged that he was stronger than her and calling him 'danna' spoke for itself. She was also the first person in a while that viewed his puppets not just as weapons but also as art.

Sasori never expected to start returning that respect and he expected even less for it to turn into fondness at some point. He realized it when he started having an unpleasant feeling in his gut every time the girl went into battle. Even though she had become much stronger since he first saw her, her exploding clay jutsu was still just as effective as it was dangerous for the user.

Every time an explosion erupted or a kunai flew too close for comfort his heart skipped a beat. Such feelings were unfit for a shinobi, but Sasori had quickly realized they were impossible to suppress.

Slowly the puppet master's train of thought drifted to what had happened earlier that day. He knew he had to come in terms with the fact that he couldn't always protect the girl but that didn't stop him from promising himself he wouldn't let something like _that_ happen ever again. Itachi wasn't someone he liked to see getting involved with Deidara. The boy's hands were too bloodstained…

The meeting was finally over and one by one the exhausted akatsuki members began taking their leave. Funny how hour long battles didn't make most of them break a sweat and one meeting was enough to leave them stiff and yawning. In contrast Deidara was quite fresh as her brain refused to stay inactive. Her eyes found Sasori immediately and she fell into step beside him. The others did the same with their partners. It had become sort of a way of life for them. Having someone to watch your back at all times was a good strategy and they went with it, no matter how much they disliked each other in some cases.

Every unit had its own purpose: Pein and Konan were the strategists, Zetsu – the intelligence, Sasori and Deidara – long range fighters, Itachi and Kisame – 'the heavy artillery' and Hidan and Kakuzu – the collectors or treasurers of the organization.

Since Pein had decided it was too early for them to go after the Jinchuuriki and there were less battles as of late, Sasori and Deidara had to wait on standby, which meant they had pretty much nothing to do. Sometimes they trained together but since Sasori was mostly quiet, Deidara had plenty of time to get lost in thought.

Playing with the hem of her dress, she thought about how there was absolutely no way she was getting rid of it, even if it meant Pein beating the shit out of her for disobeying orders. The kunoichi briefly wondered whether Itachi would stand up for her if that happened but the thought was quickly dismissed. What he'd done at the meeting was probably on a whim or because he was getting tired of all the ruckus, Deidara told herself. After all why would Itachi care she even existed. The only interaction they had had before today's accident was _that time_…the day she became part of the notorious Akatsuki.

The blonde gripped the fabric of her clothes tighter as memories flowed back…

"_Akatsuki?" Deidara inspected the four men in front of her._

"_What the hell's that? Buzz off, I'm trying to take in the art here!" It really ticked her off. She'd come to this place to look at a few statues and suddenly there are four freaks asking (telling) her to join some sort of organization she's never heard of. Fat chance! _

"_Why do I have to get stuck with this kid?" Asked a gruff voice, which Deidara concluded belonged to the hunchbacked weird-looking one on the right. It was hard to tell since his mouth was covered by a black cloth. _

"_She's got spunk, but she's definitely the type to die young."_

"_Leader's orders." The raven-haired ninja on the left spoke. "Her abilities will be useful to us." _

_Deidara decided that man looked the most normal especially compared to the other two freak shows on his left. He was even a bit handsome she couldn't help but think. However one thing he said disturbed her greatly. _

"_Y-you know about me?" Just how much did they know…"Who are you people…?" _

"_You've been cooperating with insurgents in the surrounding countries, acting as a terrorist and causing damaging explosions." The one who answered creeped Deidara out with how much he resembled a shark. "What purpose would that serve a rouge ninja like you?"Instead of answering the question he asked one himself. Deidara was willing to answer this one though._

"_Purpose? I don't have one." She shrugged and a smirk stretched her lips. "People hire me to blow things up and I fulfill their requests…with my sculptures, yeah!"_

"_Sculptures?" Sasori felt a spark of interest._

_Noticing the others' curiosity, Deidara decided to put up a little show for them and make sure they knew just what they were dealing with. The chakra infused clay felt so familiar in her hands that creating one of her exploding spiders was like a child's play. _

"_Behold! This is the result of combining highly-detailed linework and two dimensional deformations! This is true art! But that's just the beginning. My art lives! When it has shape, it's simply modeled clay, but my art explodes! And in that short moment, it fulfills the vision of greatness that inspired me to shape it! That explosive instant is the only point where I consider it to be true art. Because art IS an explosion!" _

_After her speech, which she was quite proud of. Deidara was sure those akatsuki jerks would start watching their mouths. _

"…_Man, she's annoying." The 'hunchback' grunted._

"_Are you finished?" _

"_Who knows…That's enough." The one on the left interrupted in a firm voice. "I'll do it."_

_The moment that was said his eyes suddenly changed their onyx color to a deep crimson. Three strange looking markings circled his irises. In all her career as a ninja, Deidara had never seen anything like that. _

'_What's with his eyes?…' The girl stiffened at the thought. Despite her hair standing on end under the intense crimson stare, she didn't allow even a fraction of her nervousness show in her behavior._

"_You wanna fight?" She challenged him further, though it was suddenly starting to look like a bad idea in her eyes. On further inspection of her opponents, the raven-haired ninja seemed to be the most dangerous of them. _

_A calm reply put an end to Deidara's musings._

"_If I win, you will become a member of Akatsuki." The tone left no place for argument and Deidara didn't need a second invitation to attack the man._

"_Don't belittle me! My ninjutsu is nothing but noble, refined art!" The kunoichi used her words to distract the ninja while she secretly put together a clay centipede behind her back. The small sculpture began its role as it crept down her leg and under the wooden floor. Meanwhile Deidara didn't waste any time and sent the previously made spider flying in Itachi's direction. _

"_Feel my art!" _

_The sharingan user attempted dodging the spider as he jumped backwards, but shortly after his feet left the ground Deidara's yell of 'katsu!' reached his ears and he was enveloped in a powerful explosion. Itachi had somewhat expected that and it wasn't long before he emerged from the smoke only to be met by Deidara's centipede, which was now at least ten times larger in size. The clay figure wrapped itself around the Uchiha's body and tightened its grip. Deidara's victorious chuckle filled the silence that followed. _

"_You talk big but is that all you've got?" The kunoichi formed a hand seal, ready to detonate her clay bomb. _

"_It's over!"_

_The calmness of her victim's reply made her lose a bit of her confidence. "You should take a good look at yourself."_

"_Huh?.." It didn't take Deidara more than a moment to discover that her opponent was suddenly free and to her shock the clay centipede was now trapping none other than herself. _

"_That was close. Another second and you'd have gone from an artist to a suicide bomber…" Kisame commented with a smirk and Sasori added in a smug voice. _

"_I told you she was the type to die young." _

_Meanwhile Deidara's rapid thinking had presented her with only one explanation. _

"_Genjustsu…" She voiced her thoughts. "When did…"_

"_From the very beginning." The shark ninja answered her. "From the very moment you looked into Itachi-san's Sharingan eyes, you were under his genjutsu."_

'_So that's how it was…Shit! He totally got me!' Deidara couldn't believe her defeat would come so swiftly. _

"_Oi, I say we leave this brat. We don't need little girls like her holding us back." Sasori grumbled impatiently. After seeing the pathetic excuse for a battle he was even more uneasy about having the brat as his partner - she was definitely going to die on him. He never thought highly of women's ability to fight anyways…One could say that that was his biggest mistake in this situation. _

'…_a little girl…Who're you calling a little girl?!' That did it, now Deidara saw red._

"_I thought I told you not to underestimate me! Especially because I'm a woman! __**Katsu!**__" In the blink of an eye Deidara's form was replaced by flames and smoke, which caused the other three occupants of the building to shield their eyes. In the middle of the havoc Deidara was still alive, bearing only a few non-deadly scratches and with her clothes being slightly tattered. She was right about the others underestimating her. Controlling the strength of her own explosions when needed was nothing new to the kunoichi. The explosion wasn't meant to take the others out but the smoke was a perfect cover. It also gave her another advantage: if she couldn't see that Itachi guy's eyes, he wouldn't be able to cast another genjutsu on her._

"_Now I'll show you what this little girl can do hmm." She muttered to herself and with practiced ease made more of her exploding spiders, throwing half of them at Itachi's general direction and the other half at the other two shinobi. The sounds of multiple tiny explosions assaulted her ears and she squinted in the smoke to see the movement of a shadow just ahead of her._

"_Got you." She hissed. In the aftermath of anger, she grabbed a kunai from the inside of her sleeve and charged at the murky figure. She knew full well that she wasn't good at close combat but she was counting on the smoke for cover and she also had the sudden strong desire to personally stab the jerk in the chest. _

"_Shine!" [1] She cried and felt a pang of satisfaction as the blade met flesh and sunk deep into it. Her victory didn't last long though as the body suddenly disappeared with a typical popping sound and a puff of white smoke._

"_A clone?" But by the time she realized her mistake it was already too late._

"_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu__!" The world around Deidara was swallowed by flames. _

_When she came to there were still traces of fire and smoke around the place and her body ached all over. Deidara tried to get up but was partly blinded by the bright light flooding in from a hole one of her explosions had left in the wall. Her trained vision quickly adapted to the light and was now able to distinguish the outlines of a shadow._

_In all her life Deidara had never had her breath taken away like that before: There, amongst the rubble and dust, surrounded by the golden sunrays, was the man that had defeated her as if she were nothing but a low class chunin. And he…he was beautiful…_

_The two crimson red orbs contrasting with the dark silhouette mesmerized the girl to the point where she was speechless._

'_This…is true art…' _

_All of a sudden Deidara was struck by reality and a strangled sound escaped her throat. _

'_Shit! How could someone else's power captivate me like that…' She clenched her teeth and clutched at her face. However hard she tried though, her eyes couldn't help but be drawn back to the glorious sight, while her mind protested violently against the idea. _

'_This is art? No way…I refuse...I refuse to acknowledge it!' Tremors of anger and embarrassment shook her frame as all sorts of fiery feelings stirred in her gut. _

"_You lose." Itachi spoke as Deidara glared daggers at him. The kunoichi hated how those eyes watched her with a feeling of superiority flashing behind the red irises. This man was the same as everyone else – viewing her as nothing more than a weak female. What was even worse was that she'd given him a good reason to do so by letting herself be defeated so easily. _

"_Also," he added "you might want to cover yourself."_

_At first Deidara didn't understand what Itachi meant but taking a better look at her body, a surge of blood rushed to her cheeks. The fire jutsu Itachi had used had left painful burn marks all over her skin. That, however, wasn't the only damage it had done. The light green kimono Deidara was wearing had been burned and torn in so many places that her chest and stomach were almost fully exposed. Even though she knew it was a futile attempt, Deidara's hands shot up to save as much of what was left of her pride as possible. The only thing she was glad for was that the other two could only see her back from where they stood. _

_The girl curled up on herself, knowing that the pathetic tattered rags did little to serve their purpose. Besides, Itachi had seen plenty already. Deidara bit her lower lip with enough force to draw blood. Inside, her emotions were boiling, causing her to shake uncontrollably. She wasn't sure she could take such humiliation any longer and that cursed man's eyes were still glued to her, crushing any sense of confidence she might have had left. Deidara was so humiliated, embarrassed, cornered and angry that she wanted to cry. She was never going to be able to live this down, the memory would haunt her to the grave. _

_Swallowed up in a hurricane of emotions, Deidara didn't notice when Itachi had come to stand only a few inches away from her and that he was currently unbuttoning his cloak. It was only when she felt warm fabric come in contact with her sensitive burned skin that Deidara looked up into a pair of unreadable onyx eyes. _

"_Here." Was the only simple word that accompanied the strange action she had yet to decipher. Itachi returned to his companions, leaving Deidara enough time to realize that he'd just taken off his own cloak, only to drape it gently around her shoulders. _

_Heat rose to her cheeks once again but this time it wasn't caused by anger. The cloak still carried its owner's warmth and Deidara suddenly felt very small in it. In the same time however, being surrounded by the powerful man's scent, made her feel safe and protected and it was a completely unfamiliar feeling for the blond kunoichi. Before she knew it she'd stopped shaking and the clutter of emotions inside her had been replaced with a warm tenuous tingle. _

_Slowly standing up on uncertain legs, Deidara braved a look at Itachi, who had finally decided to give her some privacy and was facing away from her. The kunoichi had yet to wonder why the man had acted that way despite her initial attitude towards him. _

_For the briefest of moments onyx met sky blue and for the first time neglecting her policy to always act strong, Deidara looked away…_

Itachi had not even once asked for his cloak since that day. Even if he had, Deidara wouldn't have given it back to him. Deidara knew it was childish and she denied having any feelings towards the man, but she was never going to get rid of the cloak, the girl thought as she followed her danna to their next mission…

* * *

**A/N: So…time to clear some things up…Trust me I like this part as much as you guys do, but I'm trying to prevent too many questions from popping up in the future.**

**[1] I'm going to write some words and phrases in Japanese (such as shine=die) since it just doesn't sound right when I write them in English, same goes for the names of all the jutsus. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way well informed when it comes to Japanese so if you see any mistakes, don't hesitate to correct me :) ANY criticism for this story is welcome since I'm looking to improve my writing skills. **

**I'm still wondering whether to write words such as akatsuki with capital letters. I've watched and read enough Naruto but I never paid attention to the capital letters. :/ **

**Also, I still haven't decided what Dei-chan's verbal tic will be: yeah, un, hmm? So I ask you guys again: Which one do you prefer? :DD**

**Oh and for the flashback scene – I've used manga and anime material to recreate the scene to a certain point, meaning I used some of their original lines and described the character's actions but I guess it's pretty obvious where my imagination kicked in, in favor of the plot. Btw it was interesting to notice some differences in the anime and manga (like Sasori and Kisame switching positions for example).**

**Ugh, there are so many more things I need to write here but there's definitely a limit to how long an author's note should be. :DD Till next time my dear readers!**


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